When the moon shied away The pollution-laden Cairene night was illuminated by a full moon last Saturday. However, something curious was going on in the skies. A partial lunar eclipse at 10:36pm local time tilted numerous heads upwards. For three hours and nine minutes, Earth came between the sun and the moon. Nader Habib 's lens captured the phenomenon. The Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement achieved a huge success with its children's summer camp, held a week ago. This pilot project trained members of the movement's Youth Network, to teach children aged between 12 and 15 lessons drawn from a curriculum entitled the culture of peace, one which the movement has worked hard to develop. The project covered six schools in five governorates for six days, with over 300 students participating. Graced with a massive media presence in Marina, the North Coast's pearl, Arab and Egyptian singers participated in the Arab Stars Festival. The festival presented, among other artists, Kuwaiti singer Abdullah Al-Rwashid, Lebanese singer Wael Gassar and Egypt's own Hisham Abbas. Beautiful actress Dalia El-Beheiri and Farid El-Murshidi, grandson of late veteran actor Farid Shawki and son of Major-General Ahmed El-Murshidi and producer Nahed Farid Shawki, tied the knot at the Mohamed Ali Club. Guests at the cosy party included the couple's family members, close friends and a very few number of actors and actresses. Last week, a large number of youth flocked to Marina to attend a series of concerts organised at its fabulous beach. It featured a group of highly sought-after pop singers including sultry Lebanese singer Haifaa Wahbi, Amr Mustafa, Hatem Fahmi and Issaf, as well as the gorgeous Miriam Fares. On the beach of Golf Porto Marina, popular pop singer Amr Diab made his outstanding appearance, with the presence of around 5,000 fans. He performed a two-part concert that lasted until the early hours of the next day, chanting a collection of his best old and new songs, including songs from his newest and as yet unreleased album. USAID celebrated International Youth Day at Al-Azhar Park, Cairo. The park was overcrowded by enthusiastic youth who gathered to practise various cultural activities, including drawing and painting. At the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC), well known writer and novelist Salwa Bakr will deliver a lecture titled "India: The Land of Arts" on 25 August, 6pm. Earlier this year, Bakr was invited to India to attend an international seminar on Mahatma Gandhi's seminal text, Hind Swaraj. She worked as a journalist and film critic in Cyprus and Beirut and as a visiting professor at the AUC. In 1985, she published her first collection of short stories, Zinat Fi Ganazat Al-Rayes (Zinat at the President's Funeral). Since then, she has written 18 novels and short stories and her works have been translated into several languages. One of her books has also been published in India. Indian Ambassador to Egypt A Gopinathan and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni together toured the photo exhibition titled "India-Egypt: A Photographic Retrospective". The exhibit was organised by the Indian Embassy in Cairo, and it is amongst the activities arranged for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt. Our dear friend Mona Makram Ebeid, former MP and distinguished lecturer of political science at the AUC has received an invitation to participate in the NDI's International Leaders Forum during the Democratic Convention that starts on 24 August in Denver, Colorado. The programme will include a series of high- level events, as well as the official election of Senator Barack Obama as candidate to the presidential election. The Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria witnessed the grand finale of the Third Alexandria Arab Music Festival organised by the Cairo Opera House. Headed by Ratiba El-Hefni, the festival's committee included a galaxy of music experts such as composers Gamal Salama, Mohamed Sultan, Helmi Bakr, Yehia El-Mogui as well as veteran media figures Wagdi El-Hakim, Gihan Kamel and director Gihan Mursi. The programme offered a number of concerts, including performances by pop singers Medhat Saleh, Mohamed El-Helw, Nadia Mustafa and Moroccan singer Fouad Zabadi. Among the younger stars to sing were Khaled Selim, Maye Farouk and Rehab Omar. They mesmerised the audiences chanting rare classical Arab songs accompanied by the Abdel-Halim Noweira Arab Music Ensemble, conducted by Salah Ghoubashi and the National Arab Music Ensemble, conducted by Selim Sahab.
